Oh, Those Precious Memories
by lightnwolf101
Summary: "But at the same time, it would pain him on the inside." Inspired by a certain episode.


**I do not own The Legend of Korra. Please review. ^^**

* * *

The ferry arrived at the docks. An old man came out and started walking. He walked past the pro-bending arena and stopped. He looked back at it as words and memories played in his mind.

_"Oh, you're still here?"_

_"Oh, you're still a jerk?"_

_"You're the Avatar and I'm an idiot."_

_"Both are true."_

He sighed brokenly as he slung his bag. He continued to walk down the street. The man wanted to at least spend some time alone, for he was to meet the new Avatar the next day. From what the man heard, the Avatar is a sixteen year old boy from the Earth Kingdom who recently had discovered his other bending abilities. The man himself was chosen to teach the boy firebending.

The man felt the urge to run his hand through his hair. He almost forgot that his hair was no longer spiky as it was in his younger days. It flattened as he got older… no, it flattened completely after her death… He winced as he stroked his beard. Speaking of which, he sometimes asked himself why he grown a beard back then. He then chuckled to himself as he remembers when she first commented on it.

_It had been five years of marriage. The man was around twenty-five years old then. He looked himself at the mirror as he stroked the small beard he had just grown. He left the bathroom and walked into the living room. He found her sitting on the floor, playing with their daughter. He sat down next to them. His daughter turned her attention to him and started crawling onto his lap. He then smiled as he picked her up and raised her up into the air. The baby giggled as she swung her arms around. The man then set his daughter back down on his lap and let her climb up of him. He noticed his wife staring at him intently. He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you staring at me?"_

_"It's strange, seeing you with a beard."_

_He smiled as he stroked it. "Well, you better get used to it because I think I might keep it that way."_

_"And let it grow long as you grow old? Hmm, I think I might want that."He heard the hint of amusement in her voice._

_"What do you find strange about my beard?"_

_"Well, one, you look completely different. Two, it makes you look more mature than you actually are. And three, you look older than you actually are."_

_"Hey! You calling me old? At least it makes it more believable that I'm in the council!"_

_She laughed. "I'm just being honest!"_

_"You're crazy," he muttered. Suddenly, he screamed in pain. His daughter was pulling at his beard, hard. Yep, she was definitely her mother's daughter._

"_Ow, ow, ow!"_

_His wife watched and started to laugh uncontrollably at the site. She managed to say something as she laughed. "You know, I think I might like your beard." _

"_Oh, shut up and get her off me!"_

The old man wanted to laugh at the sweet memory. But at the same time, it would pain him on the inside. Back then, she sometimes brought the incident up when he would go to the bathroom and shave the beard back to normal. Both would laugh at it. And there he was walking down the street alone.

He turned at a corner and passed by a restaurant that serves food from the Water Tribe. He winced at the sight. This was the place where they went on their first date.

_It had been three weeks after the war against Amon ended. He thought about ways to take her out on a date. Sure, they said "I love you" to each other, but he wanted to at least show his affections. Narook's Seaweed Noodlery was out of question since his brother already took her there. After considering all those possible places to take her to, one finally came up. A new restaurant had opened. What made it perfect was, it served Water Tribe food and it was considered better than Narook's. _

_So he straightened his jacket and smoothed his scarf. He rehearsed on asking her out multiple times in his head as he looked for her on Air Temple Island. He finally found her practicing with the airbending children. The kids were teaching her how to make an air scooter. She eventually got it and balanced herself on top. She moved in circles on the scooter as she and the kids laughed. He couldn't help but stare. He was amazed at how she had gotten so talented. Suddenly, he remembered. He ran and said, "Hey!"_

_She turned her head, "Wha- oof!" She crashed into a wooden post and fell onto her back. The boy stopped and grimaced at the pain she was possibly going through. Shaking his head, he ran and helped her up. "You okay?"_

"_Okay? You distracted me, which caused me to crash!"_

_He rubbed the back of his head as he nervously said, "Yeah… I want to ask you something…"_

"_Okay…"_

"_Would you like to go out on a date with me?"_

_She stayed silent. After a moment or two, she smirked. "What took you so long, City Boy?" He smiled and pecked her on the lips. "Pick you at tonight?"_

"_I'll be there."_

"_Yay! You guys are finally together!" Ikki said as she jumped up and down. Jinora stood quietly with a knowing look and Meelo was just being himself. _

_The couple blushed as they quickly turned and walked away._

_It was perfect, well, in a way it was. He took her out to the new restaurant. Being the Avatar and the team captain of the Fire Ferrets sure starts off gossip. As they sat together at a table, people all around them were whispering as they sneaked glances._

"_Is that the Avatar?"_

"_Oh my Spirits! It's him!"_

"_Why are they here… together?"_

"_Are they…"_

_He notices her shift uncomfortably in her seat. He holds her hand in reassurance and smiles. She looks at him and smiles back. _

_They eat. They talk. They laugh. What more could he want?_

The elderly man sighs again. He continued to walk as he started humming. He passes by booths that sell various things.

"Get your carving tools! Best with both wood and stone!"

The man stops and turns to see someone selling tools. His expression somber more than ever.

"_Why did I even let you drag me here?"_

"_Oh, c'mon, bro! Remember why we're here!" _

_The earthbender dragged his firebending brother towards the many vendors. At that time, the earthbender was around the age of eighteen and his older brother was around the age of twenty. _

_They had already bought a stone. Now, all they needed were carving tools. _

"_Get your tools right here!"_

_Suddenly, the firebender was dragged again by his brother towards the vendor. He watched his younger brother as he crossed his arms._

"_Hello, my good man, do you happen to have any carving tools for a special stone?" _

"_Hmm, it depends, lemme see it."_

"_Bro?"_

_The firebender grumbled as he dug through his pocket. He took out the stone and handed it to his brother and looked away._

"_Hmm, why yes, I do have the right tools for this."_

_After rummaging, the seller handed them a kit. "That'll be sixty yuans."_

"_Sixty yuans?"The firebender exclaimed._

"_Bro, just pay for it."_

"_Oh, c'mon, didn't you hear the price?"_

"_Well, you either buy it here or go all the way to the Southern Water Tribe, which one?"_

_The firebender groaned in frustration as he slapped the money into the seller's hand. He snatched the kit and walked away, grumbling. _

He squeezed his eyes and quickly walks away. They all come crashing to him as he hears the sounds of people going on with their daily. It's almost too much for him. He continues to hum to distract himself, but it doesn't make things any better.

_They were at the park, under a tree. It had been a year since they started dating. His head was on her lap as she sat and stroked his hair. Time went by as she started humming._

_He remembered her singing the song when they were babysitting the airbender kids. He had finally gotten Meelo off from biting his head and had put the kids to bed. He found her in the nursery, singing the baby to sleep. He couldn't help but listen. He didn't know how soothing her voice could be. Once the baby fell asleep, she turned and jumped when she saw him leaning against the door frame._

"_How long have you been standing there?"_

"_Long enough to hear you sing." He shrugged as she blushed._

_Silence._

"_Who taught you that song?"_

"_Master Katara sang it to me once. She told me that Zuko taught it to everyone after his uncle died."_

"_It's pretty, that song…" he whispered._

_He snapped back to reality as he looked up at her. She was lost in thought as she hummed and stroked his hair._

"_Can you sing out the words?" he whispered. She looked back down at him and smiled. She happily obliged. Later on, he fell asleep with the words ringing in his head._

_The song became special for the couple. Whenever one of them had a nightmare, the other would sing it until both of them fell asleep._

Suddenly, the man heard crying. He turned his head to see a little boy crying. The boy's mother was trying her best as she put her hand on her protruding belly. The man smiled as he started singing the song to the boy. The boy looked at him as he sniffled. The man continued singing as he kneeled down in front. When he finished, the boy giggled as he clapped his hands. His mother looked at him in relief. "Thank you so much."

"It's no problem," the old man said as he looked at the woman's belly. He continued, "I can see that your baby will be strong."

The woman smiled, "Thank you." She gently took her son's hand and led him away towards the opposite direction. The old man got up as he watched them leave.

"_Be careful!" the then twenty four year old man said as he rushed to help his wife get off of her polar bear dog._

"_Will you quit it? I'm only pregnant!"_

_He sighed as he gently set his hand on her belly. He saw his wife's pout quickly change as she took notice of her parents._

"_Mom! Dad! It's so good to see you!"_

"_We missed you so much!" her mother said as she hugged her daughter. The young adult watched as his father-in-law came behind and gave him a hearty pat. "I hope you're treating our daughter well, young man."_

"_You can trust that I am, sir."_

"_Please, call me Tonraq."_

"_Okay, sir, I mean, Tonraq."_

_Tonraq chuckled as he gave another pat. "How about you ladies go inside? Katara cooked some sea prunes," Tonraq suggested._

_The women obliged as the two men stood together. "So, are you excited to be a father?" Tonraq asked._

"_Yeah, but I'm also terrified. What if something goes wrong?"_

"_Look, things will happen, young man. I was also scared when Senna and I had her. But I knew that I love Senna and that she also loved me back. I know that my daughter loves you and that you love her. That is what matters."_

_The younger man smiled when he heard this. He let his father-in-law lead him into the igloo. When they sat down to eat, the soon-to-be father quickly grimaced at the site of sea prunes as his wife looked at him in amusement._

The old man smiled as he turned and walked once more. Spirits, it hurt him deeply.

Later on, he finally arrived at his destination. He walked into Republic City Park and stopped in front of a tree.

"_May I ask… what happened to your parents?"_

He went down on his knees as he sat down his bag. He put a rock against the tree for support and took out a long piece of red fabric. He folded it neatly and set it down in front of the rock. The elder took out a picture, a holder, and two incense sticks. He put the picture in front of the rock and placed the holder in front of it. He lit the incense sticks and put them in the holder.

He finally looked at his work. He looked at the picture as a tear fell down his face. He said sadly, "Happy ninety-fifth birthday, Korra. If only…"

_It had been too much for her. Apparently, there were still Equalist sentiment even after years. People had set the entire island on fire. Korra sent him to get everyone off the island as she went to handle the fire. There was so much fire that it almost engulfed the entire island._

_He had finally gotten everyone on the boat and set sail towards the city. From the distance, he saw her go into the Avatar State. He watched in awe as she used airbending and waterbending to put it out. And she succeeded._

_But the Avatar State put a deep physical strain on her. He found her lying on the ashes. His eyes widened, "Korra!"_

_He ran towards her and gently picked her up. She stirred and weakly opened her eyes, "Mako?"_

_Mako hastily ran towards the boat, "Korra, it's going to be alright. Everyone's wait-"_

"_Mako, stop. Put me down…"_

"_No! You're going to live! I promise you!"_

"_Please, I've done my job and now… it's time for the cycle to start again…"_

"_No, please stay with me."_

"_One day, I'll come to you, I promise. But promise me, PROMISE ME, you'll teach the next Avatar firebending."_

_The old man choked as he looked at her. He was going have to accept the inevitable. So he set her down and kiss her on the forehead. He whispered, "I promise…" _

_She smiled softly as she closed her eyes, never to open them again._

Suddenly he remembered. He grabbed his bag and took out a necklace. He looked at it and traced the pendant. He smiled softly as memories flashed back once more.

_They were visiting the Northern Water Tribe where Korra wanted to learn more about the sister tribes. After a few days of their arrival, they sat on top of the palace, enjoying the full moon. She had just visited the Spirit World and talked to Avatar Kuruk. After coming back, she remained quiet and that irked Mako a bit. But he had another thing in mind. _

_They sat together as Korra gently moved her legs back and forth. Mako nervously fingered an object in his pocket as he said, "You're awfully quiet today."_

"_Avatar Kuruk told me everything about Ummi and I felt guilty for some reason. I guess it's because he was the previous Avatar from the Water Tribe…."_

_Mako sighed, "Korra, he may have been one of your past lives, but you're not him, in a way. And he's not you. Listen…" He rubbed the back of his head as she looked at him._

_He took a deep breath and said, "When we first met, you drove me crazy in so many ways. But I fell in love with you anyways. Like I said before, I don't care if you're the Avatar or not. Korra…" He finally took out the object out his pocket and showed it to her. Her eyes widened. It was a betrothal necklace. Its pendant taking on the shape of the symbol of the Fire Nation._

"_Korra, will you marry me?"_

_Her eyes brightened, "Yes! Mako, of course!" Mako smiled and leaned in. They kissed under the full moon. After many minutes, they broke apart even though they didn't want. Mako tied the necklace around her and said, "I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

The elderly Mako finally set the necklace down next to the picture of Korra. Oh, those precious memories. Tears streamed down his face as he sang their special song.

"Leaves from the vines"

"Falling so slow"

"Like fragile, tiny shells"

"Drifting through the foam"

"Little soldier boy"

"Come marching home"

"Brave soldier boy"

"Come marching home"

The next day, Mako finally met the new Avatar. And Spirits, was the boy so much like her. The boy had her stubbornness, impulsiveness, and insecurity. When the boy left to unpack, Mako raised his head and whispered towards the sky, "You came…"

* * *

Many months later, deep in the Spirit World, a young boy from the Earth Kingdom and an older woman sat on a certain polar bear dog as they watched memories.

_"Oh, you're still here?"_

_"Oh, you're still a jerk?"_

_"You're the Avatar and I'm an idiot."_

_"Both are true."_

The woman chuckled as she said, "Love is hard when you're young."

"Tell me about it," the boy mumbled.


End file.
